The jury awarded the 2012 Prix Prescrire to the 5 titles listed below. These works were chosen from amongst the publications reviewed in the "Lu pour vous" books section of La revue Prescrire between October 2011 and September 2012. 

Alcohol and general practice (in French)

Huas D et Rueff B
"Alcool et médecine générale"
GMsanté, Neuilly-sur-Seine 2010:
194 pages, 19.80 euros.
How can general practitioners be helped to better care for patients who have a problem with alcohol? Using as its starting point the concept of evidence-based medicine, this book delivers concise, high-quality information covering the range of questions that may come up in general practice.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)

Young, and Marfan syndrome... So what?! (in French)

Oberkampf B "Jeune et Marfan… Oui, et alors ?!"
Association française du syndrome de Marfan et apparentés,
Paris 2011: 106 pages, 5.00 euros + 4.00 euros shipping.
This work is written for teenagers and young adults with Marfan syndrome, a rare and sometimes serious syndrome. Each chapter deals, in simple and clear language, with both highly technical questions and everyday concerns, thus making all aspects of decision-making accessible. Written with the participation of specialised healthcare professionals and of patients, this book is an excellent example of how technical information can best be presented for lay readers.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)

Mammography screening. Truth, lies and controversy

Gøtzsche PC
"Mammography screening. Truth, lies and controversy”
Radcliffe Publishing, London 2012: 388 pages, 34.10 euros.
In France as in many other developed countries, governmental institutions strongly promote mammography screening for breast cancer. However, rigorous analysis of the scientific data available calls the wisdom of such programmes into question. Coming from one of the most prominent voices in this field, this book in English reveals the scientific stakes as well as the battle of various interests being played out in the domain of breast cancer screening.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)

Overdiagnosed. Making people sick in the pursuit of health

Welch HG et al.
"Overdiagnosed. Making people sick in the pursuit of health"
Beacon Press, Boston 2011:
228 pages, 14.95 euros.
An overdiagnosis is a diagnosis which is correct, but which concerns an illness which, had it not been discovered or diagnosed, would have had no impact on the person involved. In taking on the theoretical and practical aspects of overdiagnosis linked to screening programmes, this book reveals one of the perverse effects of the overmedicalisation of society. An important book, written in easy-to-understand English. 
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)

Stabbed in the back. 
Confronting back pain in an overtreated society

Hadler NM
Prize awarded to the French edition: "Poignardé dans le dos.
Affronter le mal de dos dans une société surmédicalisée"
Presses de l’Université Laval, Québec 2011:
240 pages, 28.00 euros.
Back pain is normal in healthy people, but its overmedicalisation causes chronic suffering and an excess of treatment. Such is the conclusion reached by the author of this book, which is based on the social sciences. Going beyond the question of back pain, the author questions medicine's role in society.
> Read Prescrire's review (in French)

"Prix Prescrire 2012" Rev Prescrire 2012; 32 (348): 787. Pdf in French, free

©Prescrire 4 October 2012